As counties across the state work to comply with a mandate from the governor requiring new voting machines, the state auditor general announced Friday at least 18 counties reported accepting gifts from election equipment vendors dating back to 2013.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said the report found four companies feted county election officials with gifts ranging from travel to amusement park tickets to free food and drink. The inquiry was launched after it was revealed last year that the top elections official in Luzerne County accepted a Las Vegas trip from manufacturer Election Systems and Software.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale held a press conference Thursday morning where he shared his anger and annoyance towards the failing statewide radio system that Pennsylvania State Police and first responders have been using.

DePasquale stated that he will soon be starting an audit of the contract for the statewide radio system.

Administrative errors and poor decision-making within the Department of Labor and Industry have caused Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation system to lose out on past federal funding, a recent internal investigation by the Wolf administration revealed.

Though Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced last month that his office would be conducting an audit of the UC system under the department and the associated Service Improvement Infrastructure Fund (SIIF) at the heart of a dispute between the Wolf administration and Senate Republicans, the Wolf administration had taken upon itself to conduct a parallel internal review, according to a letter sent by Budget Sec. Randy Albright to the Auditor General on Friday.

According to the letter, that internal review found two critical errors within the department that have caused the UC system to lose out on millions of dollars in federal funding.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale released an audit of the Propel charter school today that calls into question the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) redirecting of money away from classrooms to the charter school’s bank accounts.

Instead of focusing directly on the Propel audit, DePasquale noted findings from nine other charter schools that reached $2.5 million in questionable lease reimbursements that the PDE failed to disapprove.

Two identical proposals—one offered in the Senate and one offered in the House—would take the functions of the Public Employee Retirement Commission, the independent legislative agency tasked with reviewing pension legislation and determining state aid for municipal pension plans, and split them between the Independent Fiscal Office and Office of Auditor General.

The Senate Finance Committee Tuesday afternoon unanimously moved along the Senate version of the legislation, Senate Bill 1227, sponsored jointly by Sen. John Blake (D-Lackawanna) and Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh).